Tonight will be our first of two concerts at the Estonian Song Festival. We are beyond excited and can't wait to see what this is all about. The weather will be cooperating and we have tickets. But why not start your day in Tallinn with a great breakfast, sauna, and a walking tour of the city? Ok, let's go!
Monument for the freedom of Estonia in the south part of the old town. The locals don't really like the looks of it, but also really don't like that it cost 8million € to build. Ouch!
The guide said the they buried people in the walls of the towers. Creepy! Oh yeah, it's the 4th of July, so I have to sport my USA jersey once again.
Oh yes, another Bently cruising the streets. We have noticed an abnormal amount of high end vehicles in the 3 cities we have visited thus far. Funny, every one of the drivers is very young and on their phone.
End of the tour in the middle of Old Town.
We had a long rest back at the hostel and then walked 5k or so to the stadium. This is where the folk dance part of the Song Festival was taking place. I swear there were more dancers than people watching the event. It was cool to walk thought the masses of adult and child performers, all in various traditional garb, getting ready to dance. They paid attention to every detail, especially their hair. The girls wore perfect braids.
The performance was over 2 hours long, so there was lot of resting beforehand.
Somehow, all these groups came on and off the field with total precision. The staging areas were arranged perfectly and there was no dead time in the performance.
These children were sitting in front of us ready to get their folk dance on!
The performance began with the lighting of a ceremonial torch, like in the Olympic Games. The fire was started in Tartu, many miles away and was ridden to Tallinn by a group of bicyclists. They made one lap around the stadium and then lit the huge torch at the side of the stadium. The entire time the band played from above.
Below is a picture of the first group to take the field. They were children below the age of 12, and they meant business. As the kids enthusiastically and precisely danced their hearts out, a children's choir sang the folk song from the stage. Amazing! I have to edit the video I took to show you soon. Right now, the iPad is crammed with data and video editing is tough. Soon, I promise. After the children, different groups kept taking the field. Some were all men, some all women, some teenagers, or any other combination. All of the awesome dancing was accompanied by a live band. These guys and gals rocked it. They were really good. They played tight and in tune, and covered many styles of music during the evening. The sound was top notch also. I was impressed that the quality rivaled a professional show in Vegas.
One little side note: the stadium has no lights. It stays light until midnight during the summer, so there is no need for lighting. Cool!
The performance was being professionally filmed and aired live on Estonian TV. We were amazed with "Segway Guy." He was everywhere with his steady cam, zipping along on the Segway. This guy has camera skills and Segway skills, possibly bow skills too.
The support from the audience was like nothing I had seen before. It was all in recognition of Estonia as a free nation after 100s of years of occupation. Even though Estonia has only been independent for 23 years, they were able to preserve and pass down their customs while under the rule of other nations. Seeing the people of a young country so proud of their heritage, and understanding how important it is to preserve their culture was very powerful. 
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